Week 15 Newsletter

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The Grove Grizzly A Note From the Office As you all know, our annual Holiday Concert is approaching in a few short weeks! All students will be participating in this concert. We will have two shows for our families to attend. The first show will take place during the school day at 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, December 21st. The second show will be in the evening on Thursday, December 21st at 7 p.m. The afternoon show typically is less crowded than the evening show and is great for grandparents or extended family members to attend if they are interested in seeing the program! In efforts to ensure that parents can find parking for the show in the afternoon and still maintain a smooth transition at dismissal for our students, we will be leaving all parking on Grove Avenue and the spots along Illinois empty for parents to park for the daytime show. We will also have some spots available in the parking lot and will have staff outside directing cars in order to ensure that the traffic does not interfere with the busses ability to enter and leave the parking lot. Please note, cars parked in the lot will need to wait for busses to leave if they are still in the lot at dismissal. Depending on the weather, parking in the grass on the baseball field for the daytime show is a great area to be able to park and leave immediately without interfering with the busses.   Additional information regarding the show will be provided in the upcoming weeks as we get closer to the actual performance date.   Cold Weather Procedures Although our weather has been fairly mild thus far this year, we are anticipating that it will be getting very cold rather quickly, so I would like to make sure that parents are aware of our cold weather procedures. During the winter months, our students will go outside for recess as much as possible. If the temperature or wind chill is zero degrees or below the students will remain inside for recess. When the wind child is above zero students will be outside. As a result, please be sure to send your children to school fully dressed to be outside for recess. It is also recommended that students bring layers such as sweatshirts and sweaters to take on and off as well. In order for students to play in the snow at school, they must have a winter coat, snow pants, boots, gloves, and a hat or earmuffs, as we want them to stay dry and be able to return to the classroom in the afternoon and concentrate on learning. We will try to have extra items for students at school in the case that they forget, but it is beneficial for students to bring all of these items each day during the winter so they are prepared no matter what. In addition, students should have a pair of gym shoes to wear during the school day while in class and in order to prepare safely in P.E.   Upcoming Dates Tuesday, December 5th -Blueprint 220 Community Weigh in Meeting, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. in GRC @ BHS Tuesday, December 5th – Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 p.m. Friday, December 8th – Grove Hour of Code Monday, December 11th -Blueprint 220 Facebook Live Chat w/ Brian Harris and Penny Kazmier, 1:00 p.m.  Tuesday, December 12th - PTO Holiday Luncheon Wednesday, December 13th – Teacher Lunch Raffle Wednesday, December 13th – PTO Jimmy John’s Dine and Share Wednesday, December 13th -Blueprint 220 Community Weigh in Meeting, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. in GRH @ BHS Tuesday, December 19th - Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 p.m. Thursday, December 21st – Winter Music Concert, 1:15 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Friday, December 22nd – Winter Parties 1:30-2:30 p.m. and P.J.’s December 25th – January 8th – Winter Break January 9th – School Resumes for the New Year                                                     .  Positive Claw Winners Week of November 10th Great Grove Reads Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt Ally Nickerson has gone to seven different schools in seven years. Her father is in the army and they constantly need to move. Her mother works as a waitress in whatever town they live in. Her older brother Travis is in high school and wants to open his own restoration shop. This is a family who is in constant motion. Ally has never liked school but she really likes her teacher and will miss her when she goes on maternity leave. She gives her teacher a card to show her that she cares…. a beautiful card with flowers on it. She knows that this will show her how she feels; instead her teacher is hurt. How could Ally give her a sympathy card when she is about to give birth to her first child? Ally has a secret. A secret that she had been able to keep for years because she keeps switching schools. Ally can’t read. Now in her second year at this school the other kids have started to tease Ally for her mistakes. When her new teacher, Mr. Danielson, tries to learn more about her, Ally must decide if she will finally let her secret be known. If you are looking for a great realistic fiction book try this one. Follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grove-Avenue-School-Library/330160290370450           First off, I would like to thank parents for keeping their student’s iPads well charged for the next day of school! Also, I want to thank all of those, teachers and parents, that helped getting the student’s iPads all updated for MAPS testing. Being updated kept the process of testing going smoothly and eliminates a lot of unnecessary issues. Please remember that we have filters on our Wi-Fi, so there is no need for restrictions when the students come to school. A couple of things to keep in mind to provide common maintenance to your student's’ iPad:   1. Turning off the iPad when you are finished using it, allows it to reboot and start up fresh 2. Deleting apps that are not being used anymore, is helpful by keeping storage available on the iPad 3. Using Google Drive, Photos, Docs and Sheet apps keeps storage available, which allows the iPad to run sufficiently 4. Refrain from eating and drinking around the iPad Avoiding More Damage When a student's iPad has the slightest crack, it should be sent down to the LTA for repairs as soon as possible. Fixing the small cracks is important in order to avoid larger, spidering cracks. Also these screens are glass, so it can be potentially dangerous for the student. A few basic ways to avoid cracked screens is to avoid dropping, sitting, hitting, throwing any iPad. Another basic way is to make sure the students' cases are in good shape, and that they are always on the iPad. If students are having any issues with their iPads, please have them come down to the library for help.   -Grove Avenue Library Technology Assistant Holiday Card Season is here!  Consider ordering from Shutterfly/Tiny Prints using our school storefront!  Each purchase through this link earns Grove 13%! Shop HERE! Extra savings are available too!  Contact bkriordan@gmail.com for coupon codes before ordering!  Warm up today with your black and white Grove Beanie - only $10!    Thank you to all who have ordered our Grove Winter Gear!   https://barrington220.revtrak.net/PTO/PTO-Grove-Elementary/Grove-PTO-Winter-Gear-Sale/ Please join us for a family style meal at our Annual Holiday Luncheon - RSVP by December 5th! Please RSVP to Brigit Riordan - bkriordan@gmail.com Our Menu: Insalata alla Francesca Rigatoni Bolognese Salmone al Funghi Tiramisu Fountain Drinks, Coffee & Tea Included Cash Bar Available $28 / Person - Make checks payable to Grove Ave PTO. Free Childcare Available at Grove at 11:15 am. Please note childcare needs and dietary restrictions, if any, in your RSVP